Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-04-30
A MEXICAN FIESTA"
A SEASON OF RELIGIOUS CERE-
MONIES AND INDULGENCE.

crowd
Every Mexican town has a patron saint
whose duty it is supposed to be to watch and
inhabitants.
The patron saint of the old town across
the river, Paso del Norte, is Our Lady Of
Guadalupe. The natives begin their cele-
bration Of the 9Th and keep it up till the
24th, when they have to quit so Is to be
ready to begin the Christmas festivities on
the 25th.
The celebration or "fiesta, - as it is called,
consists of: l. Religious ceremonies con-
Quoted daily in the celebrated old church
known to be over $40 years old. 2. At
tending three or four bull fights a week. 8.
Gambling, and lastly, drinking plenty of
pulque, mescal and tequile and having q
good time generally.
Than the bull fights nothing could be
more brutal or disgusting. Take a dog
fight, a cock fight or a fight between two
men, and you know that they are but follow
ing out the instincts of nature, and if either
contestant gets enough he can show the
white feather and generally get away. The
bull fight is different; the poor brute is
goaded and scored before he is turned into
the ring; there he is again goaded and
speared and finally killed. He stands no
more show than a mouse in a box with a cat.
AN ~1NvETERATE GAMBLER.
Sunday I went over to see life on the
plaza. The native Mexican is an inveterate
gambler. He will risk almost anything on
the turn Of a die. The plaza, a square in the
center of the village, was turned into an ex-
tensive gambling establishment, and the
games were numerous, and those run by
Mexicans depended entirely on chance. The
American faker was, however, Oh hand, and
would sell you a s. bill rolled in a piece of
paper for 81, and a few other snaps of that
description, but the main games were Next
can. First in importance was the national
game of monte. 1t consists primarily in
dealing two cards from the bottom Of the
pack and then betting as to which of the two
will be turned up first. There are many
notifications Of the game which would re-
quire a n experienced person to describe. I
have not been here long enough to acquire
that experience.
Another game very popular, especially
with the ladies, is a kind of an odd or even
affair. There isa funnel shaped contrivance
with the bottom sloping to the center; in the
center are several stops were a single marble
can drop in and a general receptacle to hold
them all. A handful of marbles is thrown
and the gambler bets whether an odd or even
number will drop in the general receptacle.
The game most numerous, however, and
which seemed to draw the largest crowds,
especially Of the American population, among
whom was a large delegation from the Cali
fornia excursion in town over the Illinois
Central, was played with dice. The layout
consisted of a table, six cards numbered l,
2, ), 4, 5 and 6, q dice box, three dice, a
few silver coins and any amount of tlacos
pronounced "clackers''), a Mexican coin
nominally worth 81 cents, being a quarter
Of q real, which is one-eighth of a dollar,
but in hard American money 5 cents will
buy four Of them.
DEALE AND DICE.
The dealer shakes the box and throws the
dice on the table still covered by the box.
The excursionist puts his money, say on the
card marked three. The box is lifted; if
there is a three up the dealer pays even; if
there are a pair of threes up he pays two for
one. If there are three threes up he pays
three for one. 1t is apparently a square
game, n the onlooker who is interested
may spend a handful of "clackers" before
he discovers there are several per cent, if
not more, in favor of the dealer.
There are several other games of less i'm
portance, among which I noted a modifica-
ton of the wheel of fortune. In this, how
ever, every turn drew a'prize. A ''clacker'
purchased the right to turn the wheel, and
wherever the arrow stopped it would point
to an article of some value, ranging from
two hairpins to a cheap cotton handkerchief.
What the young cowboy whom l saw gather
in about a dozen hairpins will do with them
is still a mystery to me.
The crowd in attendance was a very
orderly one. If any one got more tequile on
board than he could handle he could lie down
anywhere and calmly sleep off the effects of
his rotations and be perfectly happy. Ionly
saw one quarrelsome fellow, and he was a
drunken American.-El Paso (Tex.) Cor.
Detroit Free Press.